Downtown Los Angeles
The Wilshire Corridor from Downtown Los Angeles to the coast cries out for a subway system.
The high concentration of residential population, the concentration of employment, shopping and cultural and recreational centers and the intensity of traffic on the corridor itself requires the service of a high capacity system. The special geography of Wilshire Blvd. and its interconnected relationship with other transit systems within Los Angeles County means that such a high-capacity system can potentially ramp up the utilization of transit throughout the county, as well.
Miracle Mile
As one of the more heavily traveled corridors in Southern California, the Wilshire Corridor needs a system that will help relieve traffic congestion, not worsen it, while it provides an efficient alternative to travel by car.
Also, Wilshire Blvd. requires a system that will respect its character as a pedestrian oriented environment, where community members can enjoy each other, stroll, shop or dine in the wonderful California sunshine (now that our air quality is much improved).
Koreatown
Only a subway can do all of these things.
Light rail or monorail are medium-capacity transit alternatives and must be built at or above grade. They will inevitably interfere with continuing car traffic on Wilshire Blvd. Both will inevitably interfere with the pedestrian character of the boulevard. That will mean Los Angeles will forever lose a great opportunity for a truly pedestrian corridor on Wilshire Blvd. It would be an incalculable loss.
Century City
Buses, including the Metro Rapid Bus system, are unavoidably limited to the capacity of the boulevard and its traffic, even with bus only lanes at peak hour. While recent studies of bus only lanes on Wilshire Blvd. suggested improved efficiency of the transit buses and enhanced ridership, it is done at a cost of worsened congestion on the remaining car lanes. There is no reason to believe that new bus riders on bus only lanes will remotely approach the number of new riders likely to use a modern subway system there.
Royce Hall - UCLA
As a higher density corridor, Wilshire, of all Los Angeles boulevards, is able to serve as a model of transit-oriented and pedestrian-oriented development that will make our transit systems more efficient and our communities more interesting and more livable.